Apparatus for handling materials



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United States.. Patent O APPARATUS FOR HANDLING MATERIALS William G. Pagdin, Little Silver, N. J., assignor to P. Ballentine & Sons, Newark, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 9, 1953, Serial No. 397,075

Claims. (Cl. 214-85) The present invention relates to the handling of Irelatively heavy packages and more particularly to apparatus for controlling various 4operations including loading and unloading cartons or other parcels onto or from a portable lift truck platform.

The use of pallets, skids or like portable platforms adapted to support cartons or other parcels or objects placed thereon in patterned layers or tiers has been found to greatly facilitate the shipping and storage of many types of goods. When the layers or tiers have been properly formed on such platforms, the platforms may readily be picked up and carried from one point to another by a lift truck.

The cartons or other units to be placed in patterned relationship on the platforms to form the tiers are frequently transported to the loading point by means of a conveyor system. However, at the loading point, it is necessary to place the cartons or other units on the portable platforms in the desired patterns. This operation has generally been time consuming and has required considerable labor. Similar disadvantages occur with respect to unloading the platforms when it is desired to place the individual cartons or objects on a conveyor system or to otherwise dispose of them as individual units.

Various means have heretofore been suggested for mechanizing the platform loading and unloading operations. ln general, these various means have been unsatisfactory for one reason or another. Frequently these machines proposed have been too complicated and expensive for etticient use in a small or medium size plant or warehouse. Another disadvantage has resided in the difficulty encountered, or complication involved, in readjusting a machine which has been handling cartons or other objects of one size and shape to adapt the same to load or unload cartons of a different size or shape. Similarly, where machines are needed for both unloading and loading, considerable rearrangement and readjustment of parts has usually been involved in changing from the loading operation to the unloading operation.

Another important consideration in machines of this character, particularly where bottled or other fragile goods are being handled, resides in the safety and reliability of the operation, because dropping of a load, in the course of forming and transporting groups of cartons, frequently results in a considerable loss in time and in destruction of the goods.

A principal object of the invention has been to provide novel and improved apparatus for controlling the loading and unloading of patterned layers or tiers of cartons or other objects onto lor from a portable platform, which overcomes the various objections found in the use of apparatus previously employed for the purpose.

More particularly, it has been an object of the invention to provide relatively inexpensive, reliable and eicient apparatus of the above type.

Another object of the invention has been to-provde fi'ce 2 apparatus of the character indicated adapted to cooperate with a conveyor system in the loading or unloading of cartons, boxes yor other objects.

Still another object of the invention has been to provide apparatus of lthe above indicated type which is adapted to handle cartons or other objects of different sizes, without adjustment or with a minimum of adjustment.

A further object of the invention has been to provide apparatus of the character indicated, which is adapted to cooperate with a conveyor system in the loading or unloading of cartons or other objects and which operates automatically in forming patterned layers or tiers from individual units on the conveyor, or breaking up patterned layers or 'tiers for delivery to the conveyor in individual units.

Other and further objects,-features and advantages ofp being reversible for breaking up such tiers into individual units and delivering such units to one or more points;

Fig. 2 is a schematic elevational view of a portion* of the apparatus of Fig. l, illustrating one stage of the loading or palletizing operation;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the apparatus at another stage of the loading or palletizing operation;

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 1 illustrating another form of apparatus, the present invention being particularly well lsuited for use therewith, for forming patterned tiers of boxes, cartons or the like on portable platforms or pallets, and usable also for breaking u-p such tiers into individual units and delivering such units to one` or more points;

Fig. 5 is a schematic elevational View vof a portion of the apparatus of Fig. 4, showing the position of parts at one lstage of an unloading or depalletizing operation;

Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5 and illustrates the position of the parts at another stage of the unloading or depalletizing operation;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating one form of apparatus for forming, lifting and conveying layers of cartons, boxes or the like.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 7 with portions broken away to illustrate certain constructional details;

Fig. 9 is a front elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. l() is a cross-sectional view taken along the line lil- 10 of Fig. 8;

Fig. l1 is a detailed View, in plan, of the suction head of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 7;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 12-12 of Fig. l1; Y

Fig. 13 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 13-13 of Fig. 1l;

Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken along the line 14-14 of Fig. 13;

Fig. 15 is an enlarged sectional View taken along the line 15-15 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 16 is an enlarged sectional View taken along the line 16-16 of Fig. 8 and shows a slack cable switch operating mechanism;

Fig. 17 is a sectional view taken along the line 17-17 of Fig. 4; -f

asaassa j f" Figs. 18, 19, 20, 2l, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 illustrate a circuit arrangement, in accordance with` the present invention, for providing automatic, semi-automatic, or manual control of the palletizing and depalletizing operations;

Figs. 18A and 18B illustrate typical carton arrangements for 7 carton tiers;

- Figs. 19A and l9B illustrate typical carton arrangements for 8 carton tiers;

Fig. 20A is an elevational view illustrating the principal switches to be pre-set for fully automatic operation; and

Fig. 27 illustrates the relative disposition of Figs. l8-26 to show the circuit diagram.

ln a joint application Serial No. 397,855, now Patent No. 2,716,497, of Eugene A. Wahl and Ralph i. Winters tiled simultaneously herewith entitled Method and Apparatus for Handling- Materials there is disclosed and claimed apparatus of a type with which` the control apparatus of the present invention is eminently well suited to be used. En order to facilitate `and make possible a clear understanding of the presentV invention, the apparatus of said joint application will first be described herein.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly `V to Figs. l to 3 thereof, there is illustrated apparatus for selectively loading or unloading portable platforms such as the pallets 30. The loading operation will be described iirst. Cartons 31 are fed one after another along a powered roller or other suitable conveyor section 32 to an accumulator conveyor section 33 which comprises an endless belt 34 carried on rollers 35 and 36 and driven by an electric motor 37. The belt 34 preferably travels at a relatively slow speed such as, for example, about 40 feet per minute, which is somewhat less than the conveying speed of the section 32, so as to accumulate on the belt 34 a row of cartons closely spaced end to end. Cartons from the belt 34 are delivered to a conveyor section 38 comprising a series of transverse powered rollers 39 suitably connected by chain and sprocket means, or the like, to an operating motor 40. The rollers 39 are preferably operated at such. a speed as to carry the cartons 3l at a substantially higher rate than they are carried by tre belt 34. This difference in speed provides adequate room for turning selected ones of the cartons on the section 38, as willbedescribed later. An adjustable guide member 41 is provided adjacent the path of advance of the cartons 31 and near the start of theconveyor section 38 in order to cause. all advancing cartons to proceed along substantially the same path. As shown, the inner face of the guide member is inclined to the path of movement of the cartons and is arranged to cam or push the cartons toward a guide rail at the opposite side of the conveyor section as the cartons are advanced.

To provide for proper stability, the tiers or layers in which the cartons are stacked on the pallets 30 should have particular configurations dependent primarily upon the size of the cartons. The configurations, which are generally termed patternsj are usually selected after experience in handlingr the loaded pallets.; The pallets 30 of Fig. l are shown with a seven-carton tier in which three cartons are provided side by side lengthwise and four cartons in groups of two transversely. The next higher tier preferably has the pattern reversed, as will be seen by examining the loaded pallets of Figs. 2 and 3. ln order to form the patterns of a tier, some of the cartons to be included therein must be turned from the endto-end relationship in which they advance along the conveyor sections32 and 33 to a transverse side-hy-siderelationship. For this purpose, there is provided/a manually operated turning member or bar 42I adapted to extend into the path` of advance of thel cartons 34 at a suitable point along the conveyor section 38. The member 42, when active, has its,forward endV `arranged to engage the corners of advancing cartons and causes them to turn 90 4 about their engaged corners during their advance by the rollers 39. The cartons are then advanced, in their turned position, along a guide face of member 42 which is parallel with but spaced inwardly of the adjacent guide rail of the conveyor section 38. When cartons are not to be turned, the member 42 is rocked about a pivot 43 so as to extend obliquely toward the adjacent guide rail, rather than present a shoulder in the path of carton advance. The member 42 is provided at its free end with a rigidly connected, slotted operating arm 44 into the slot of which extends a xed guide pin 45. The slot in the arm 44 is in the ferm of an arc having the pivot 43l as. its center of curvature. Arm 44 is carried away from or into the path of advance of the cartons by an operator who may simply grasp the end of the arm for this purpose. The member 42 is also provided with a series of rollers 46 along which the advancing cartons may conveniently slide.

Advancing cartons pass from the conveyor section 38 onto a loading platform or table 47 on which are formed, lirstly, successive rows of cartons and then a number of such rows to provide the tiers of cartons to be delivered to the pallets 30. The table 47 comprises a plurality of powered` laterally disposed rollers 48 extending from the rear wall 47A of table 47 outwardly. Starting adjacent the outer ends of the lateral rollers 4S is a series of rollers 49, disposed at right angles to the rollers 48 and suitably powered for carrying cartons in a direction away from the rear wall 47A and toward a pickup area of the table 47 designated generally at St). The tops of rollers 49 are normally slightly below the level of the tops of rollers 43 so that rollers 49 will not interfere with the advance of the cartons by rollers 4S which are of suflicient length to support at least half of a carton even when the latter is presented lengthwise of these rollers. A fixed guide member 51 extends along the rear of the `table 47 parallel to and adjacent the wall 47A. The

member 51 constitutes an extension of the member 42 and is aligned with the latter when member 42 is in the position shown in Fig. 1. Member 51 is provided with freely rotatable disk rollers 52. Cartons advancing across the rear of the table 47 on the rollers 48 strike a side wall 53 which is provided with disk `rollers 54 adapted to assist subsequent lateral travel of the cartons. The location of the side wall 53 may be made adjustable to permit centering of the tier under the suction head.

When the desired number of cartons for forming one row of a tier extends along the rear of the table 47, the rear portion of the table 47, including the three rearmost rollers 49, is tilted upwardly about an axis 55 (Fig. l). Alsotilted upwardly is a frame carrying a plurality of freely rotatable disk rollers or skate wheels 56. These rollers 56 normally have their tops below the tops of rollers 43 but when the frame is tilted upwardly, as explained, they are carried to present their tops above the rollers 48. The axes of rollers 4S are fixed and are not elevated or tilted at this time. When the rear portion of the table 47 is tilted upwardly, cartons thereon roll forward on the disks 56 under action of gravity and are engaged by the powered rollers 49 which carry the same toward; the front end of the table 47 forming the pick-up station or area Sil. To form the tier 6l) shown on the pallet 30V at4 the left of Fig. 1, three cartons would be lined upqat the rear of the table 47 in side-by-side relationship and carried to the pick-up area Si). Next, two cartons would be lined up end-to-end and carried forward followed by two. additional cartons end-to-end to coniplete the tier. The construction and operation of the rollers 48 and 49 and the skate wheels 56 as well as the construction and operation of the table 47 will be clescribed in greater detail hereinafter.

When a tier 62 is formed at the pick-up area 50, a suction head 63 (Fig. 2) descends from the solid line position of Fig. 2 to the position shown in dotted lines and designated 63A. The suction head 63 comprises; a rigid upper portion 64 and a llexible apron-like portion 65 which may conveniently be madeof rubber orlike material. When the head is in its lowered position, the apron portion 65 should extend completely around the periphery of the tier 62 and should extend downwardly a substantial distance below the tops of the cartons along the outer sides and ends of the same. Preferably, the rigid portion 64 of the suction head 63 is adapted to rest against the tops of the cartons at this time. When the suction head 63 is in the position 63A in relation to the cartons forming the tier 62, which are then on the pick-up area 50, the air within the suction head and around the portions of the cartons encompassed by the apron 65 is evacuated by means of a flexible and extensible tube 66 connected with a suction blower 67 whereby the apron 65 is sucked into tight engagement with the outer sides and ends of the cartons and the cartons themselves are forced tightly against each other. Tube 66 may suitably be of an accordion pleated construction to enable it to be extended and contracted as the suction head is lowered and raised. The suction head 63 together with the tier 62, which is tightly grasped by the apron, is then raised to the solid line position 63. The suction head and retained cartons are then carried to a side position such as that shown at 63B of Fig. 2. The suction head and depending cartons then are lowered until the bottoms of the cartons forming the tier 62 are resting rmly on the right-hand pallet 30, at which time air is admitted to the tube 66 to release the suction and free the apron 65 from the cartons. The suction head 63 is then free to return to its initial position ready to engage the next tier of cartons and carry the latter to the pallet to form a second tier of cartons. The formation of the next tier will have been carried on during the interval in which the suction head 63 was traveling to and from the righthan-d pallet 30.

At the left-hand side of Fig. 2 there is shown a fully loaded pallet having four tiers of cartons thereon. In the arrangement illustrated, this pallet has been loaded before the right-hand pallet is ready to be carried away by a suitable lift truck. The arrangement is such that, as soon as one pallet is loaded, the suction head carries the successive tiers to the pallet on the other side to load the latter. As soon as this second pallet is loaded, the suction head carries the successive tiers in the other direction to load a new pallet which has been placed at the point from which the irst pallet has been removed. If desired, a plurality of superposed pallets may be provided at each side of the roller table so that it will not be necessary to place an unloaded pallet in position each time a loaded pallet is removed. The lift truck will then simply pick up the top pallet with its load of cartons. While two pallet loading positions have been illustrated, it will be evident that a single one could be used or three or more positions could be provided if a suitable mechanism for directing and carrying the suction head 63 were provided.

The tier 68 in Fig. 2 corresponds in pattern to the tier 62 shown on 'the pick-up area 50. It has been generally found advisable to provide a different pattern for alternate tiers. Accordingly, the tier designated 69 has an opposite pattern relationship to the tier 68, i. e., it has two rows of cartons arranged end-to-end and then one row of three cartons arranged side-by-side.

For a depalletizing operation, loaded pallets may be placed to the right and to the left of the area 50 as shown in Fig. 3 wherein a loaded pallet is illustrated to the right of the table. In Fig. 3, the suction head 63 is shown in solid lines in its upper right-hand position carrying a retained tier of cartons 70 previously seized and lifted from the pallet 30. The suction head 63 carries the tier 70 to the central position designated as 63C and from there moves downwardly to deposit the tier, -as indicated at 71, on the area 50 of table 47. After depositing the tier the suction head is liftedv to position 63C, then moved 6 laterally over the pallet 30 and downwardly to seize the next tier.

For depalletizing, the rollers 49 are powered to carry a deposited tier of cartons toward the rear of the table 47. The member 53 should be removed to permit delivery of the cartons from the rear portion of the table 47 to a conveyor section 75 comprising a series of powered rollers 76 suitably driven by a motor 77. The cartons are delivered to the conveyor section 75 by suitably rotating the rollers 48 of the table 47. Preferably, the rollers 76 operate at a higher speed than the rollers 48 so that successive rows of cartons may be spaced to facilitate turning. Laterally disposed cartons leaving the table 47 engage a xed guide member 78 extending outwardly into the path of advance of the cartons and are turned into longitudinal disposition. Longitudinally disposed cartons leaving the table 47 will not be engaged by the member 78 and hence will be carried onwardly in their original disposition. The cartons leaving the conveyor section 75 are delivered to a conveyor section 79 corresponding to the section 32 and are carried to whatever point is desired.

The operating and controlling devices for bringing about the various operations described above, in proper sequence, will now be explained.

The table 47, which is shown most clearly in Figs. 7 through 10, comprises the pick-up area 50 and a receiving area designated generally as 90. A The pick-up area 50 is bounded by three side walls or frame members 91, 92 and 93. The front portion of the table 47, bounded by the side members 91, 92 and 93, is supported at the front end thereof by leg members 100 and adjacent the rear of the area 50 by suitable support means, not shown, on which rest side members 38 and '75 forming a part of the conveyor sections 38 and 75, respectively. The receiving area of the table 47 may suitably be supported by legs, blocks or other frame means in the same manner as the conveyor sections are supported. The rollers 49A-49H, which are suitably journaled in the frame members 91 and 93, are powered for rotation by means of an endless belt 95 (Fig. l0) adapted to engage the under sides of these rollers and extending between pulleys 96 and 97 carried on shafts 98 and 99, respectively. The shaft 98 is journaled at one end thereof in a member (not shown) depending from the frame member 93 and may be otherwise suitably supported. At its other end the shaft 98 is connected to the shaft of an electric motor 101 (Fig. 7) which serves to drive the shaft 98 and the pulley 96 and hence, through the belt 95, the rollers 49A-f49I-I. An idler roller 102 may be provided to take up slack in the belt 95 and maintain it tightly in engagement with the drums 96 and 97 and the rollers 49A-49H. The shaft 99, which carries the drum 97, may suitably be journaled in the side members 91 and 93 or extensions thereof. The rollers 49l-49L are similarly powered by means of an endless belt 105 carried on drums 106 and 107 mounted for rotation on shafts 108 and 109, respectively. Shaft 108 is journaled at one end thereof in a depending extension of the frame member 93 and may be otherwise suitably supported. At its other end the shaft 108 is coupled to the shaft ofvan electric motor 110 which serves to rotate the shaft 108 and hence, through the drums 106 and 107, to drive the belt 105 and the rollers 491-491.. As best shown in Fig. 8, the rollers 49L-49N are each provided adjacent one end thereof with a chain sprocket adapted to carry an endless chain 111 which serves to rotate the rollers 49L-49N when the roller 49]'. is powered from the belt 105 and the other rollers are lifted from' the belt upon tilting of the frame carrying the three rollers about the pivot 55, as explained. If desired, the rollers 49M and 49N could be powered directly from the belt 105. At the rear of the table 47 there are provided later-V ally extending rollers 48A-48K each journaled at one end thereof `in the rear wall member 49 and at the other 

